CAREER:The Electrochemical Flow Capacitor: Capacitive Energy Storage in Flowable Media

这份职业计划书旨在探索一种叫做电化学流动电容器的全新储能概念。它利用了超级电容器和液流电池的运行特性，将(i)液流电池的可扩展能量容量与（ii）超级电容器的高额定功率、快速充电和长循环寿命特性相结合。其主要思想是在流动介质中进行电容储能。因此，其独特之处在于使用了可流动的电容性浆液电极。含有悬浮在电解质中的多孔活性炭颗粒。尽管much& # 8232;了解悬浮流动和电容电荷在薄膜电极中的存储，目前&amp；#8232；目前还没有理论框架来描述这两个过程之间的耦合。As& # 8232;因此，有一些基本的问题需要解决，以实现这一目标。把这个概念发展成实用的技术。基于此，本研究的目标是：这里是建立必要的科学，以解决与流动介质中电容电荷存储相关的关键科学空白。符合这个&amp；#8232；目标，PI将进行以下研究：(i)探索电荷渗透的性质：浆料中的碳颗粒；（ii）评估浆液成分、性能、系统架构和操作损失之间的相互作用。为了扩大这项研究的影响，我们计划了一个综合教育计划，目标是：从K-12到研究生水平的大量学生。教育目标是：a)激励年轻人，尤其是女性和少数族裔，探索STEM领域的职业生涯，&#8232；b)加强德雷塞尔大学的能源教育。这些活动包括为本科生、K-12学生开设一门关于储能和研究经验的新课程。利用德雷克塞尔大学的国际和国内项目。此外，&#8232；PI将开发一个针对少数族裔学生家长的家长参与项目[amp；#8232；以更好地利用他们作为STEM教育的合作伙伴。目标是提高家长对STEM机会的认识，并帮助他们激励孩子。让他们的孩子从事STEM领域的职业。智力优势：该项目将是建立可流动电容浆电极用于电能存储的重要一步。具体来说，它将深入了解可流动浆液中电容性碳颗粒之间电荷渗透的性质，并有助于建立描述悬浮流动与电容性电荷存储之间耦合的框架。此外，这项工作将通过研究一类独特的可用于储能的电容悬浮液来扩展胶体科学的知识。除了contributing& # 8232;对于这一概念，由此产生的知识将有助于更好地理解传统超级电容器中的粒子相互作用和双层形成，并将为其他浆液电极系统（例如电容性水去离子化和半固体电池）提供有用的见解。更广泛的影响：该项目将促进一种新的储能概念的实施，与电池相比，它可能接近10倍高的功率密度和100倍快的充电速度，并且寿命更长（~100k循环）。这种系统的发展将克服与电网规模储能相关的挑战，并使可再生资源得到更好的利用。这个项目也提供了重要的机会，将研究的影响扩大到更大的受众。大量的学生将受到这项工作的影响。两名博士生，几名本科生，K-12学生和高中教师将通过德雷克塞尔大学的国际和国内项目直接参与能源研究。此外，预计每年将有30多名学生参加新开发的能源存储课程。研究和社会服务之间的联系将通过家长参与研讨会来促进，该研讨会将重点关注工程师在社会中的作用。这些研讨会将特别强调来自传统上代表性不足的群体的学生的家长，以帮助他们增加STEM的入学率。

1351161 - KumburThis CAREER proposal aims to explore a fundamentally new energy storage concept called the electrochemical flow capacitor. It exploits the characteristics behind the operation of supercapacitors and flow batteries, combining (i) the scalable energy capacity of flow batteries with (ii) high power ratings, rapid charging and long cycle-life characteristics of supercapacitors.
The main idea is capacitive energy storage in a flowable media. As such, the unique aspect is the utilization of flowable capacitive slurry electrodes
that contain porous activated carbon particles suspended in an electrolyte. Although much
is known about suspension flow and capacitive charge storage in thin film electrodes, currently
there is no theoretical framework describing the coupling between these two processes. As
a result, there are a number of fundamental questions that need to be addressed in order to
develop this concept into a practical technology. Motivated by this, the research objective
here is to establish the enabling science necessary to address the critical scientific gaps related to the capacitive charge storage in flowable media. In line with this
goal, the PI will conduct studies to (i) explore the nature of charge percolation between
the carbon particles in the slurry; and (ii) assess the interplay between slurry composition, performance, system architecture and operational losses. To amplify the impact of this research, an integrated educational plan is planned that targets
a large body of students ranging from K-12 to graduate level. The educational objectives are
a) to inspire young people, especially females and minorities, to explore careers in STEM,
and b) to enhance energy education at Drexel University. These activities include development of a new course on energy storage and research experience for undergraduates, K-12 students
and teachers by leveraging international and domestic programs at Drexel. In addition, the
PI will develop a parental engagement program that targets the parents of minority students
in Philadelphia to better utilize them as partners in STEM education. The goal will be to increase parental awareness of opportunities in STEM and help them motivate
their children to pursue careers in STEM.Intellectual Merit:This project will constitute a major step toward establishing the enabling science of flowable capacitive slurry electrodes for use in electrical energy storage. Specifically, it will provide an in-depth understanding of the nature of charge percolation between the capacitive carbon particles in a flowable slurry and help establish a framework for describing the coupling between suspension flow and capacitive charge storage. Moreover, this work will expand the knowledge in colloidal science by investigating a unique class of capacitive suspensions that can be used for energy storage. Besides contributing
to this concept, the resulting knowledge will help better understand the particle interactions and double layer formation in conventional supercapacitors, and will provide useful insights into other slurry electrode systems (e.g. capacitive water deionization and semi-solid batteries).Broader Impacts:The project will facilitate the implementation of a new energy storage concept, which can potentially approach ~10x higher power density and ~100x faster charging rates with longer lifetime (~100k cycles) than batteries. Development of such systems will overcome challenges associated with grid-scale energy storage and enable better utilization of renewable resources. This project also offers significant opportunities to extend the impact of the research to a larger audience. A large number of students will be affected by this work. Two Ph.D. students, several undergraduates, K-12 students and high school teachers will be directly involved in energy research through international and domestic programs at Drexel. Additionally, more than thirty students per year are expected to enroll in a newly developed energy storage course. Connections between research and service to society will be fostered through the parental engagement workshops that will focus on the role of engineers in society. Special emphasis in these workshops will be given to the parents of students from traditionally underrepresented groups to help increase their enrollment in STEM.